Monday, February 22, 2010

When I needed quotes for a baby shower invitation, you were there.The time I was searching for poems about sleeping children, you were there.And once, when I was looking for witty saying about children and teachers, you didn't disappoint.

I guess I only use you for quotes and literary things........

But not today!

Today, I needed to cut a mango. And I didn't know what kind of seed or pit the mango might hide inside her. I thought it was a collection of tiny seeds.....but apparently I don't know my tropical fruit seeds very well.

About.com, you were there! You showed me how to lay the mango on it's side. You showed me how to be all fancy with the knife and cut the mango into little cubes. You made sure I didn't slice right through the pit of the mango so that my sweet girls, who saw the mango at the grocery store and begged to get it so they could "try something new," did not have a disappointing mango experience.

But About.com, you didn't mention how slippery the mango would be.

Dear Cutco Knives,

I had no idea that your serrated trimmer would hurt so much while going into my fingertip.

Thursday, February 04, 2010

Okay, so I have been saving this post since Thanksgiving, you guys. Because I was waiting for the results of the contest that my family entered. But, sadly, the contest results were never decided so I have no "Yay, we won!" or "Boo, we lost" ending for you.

But that doesn't mean that this challenge wasn't possibly one of the most exciting and awesome things I have ever done.You are so excited, aren't you?

Okay, the contest was created by someone who loves Thanksgiving. And this was the second year of his "Pic of the Plate" contest where competitors took pictures of their Thanksgiving Dinner plates to submit for review. Simple, right?

Well folks, if you know anything about me, you know that I can't just enter a simple contest like this without putting some thought into it, um, a LOT of thought into it. I will be calculating how to win, how to be creative and how to get "in" with the judges so things will go my way. It isn't cheating-I am absolutely NO cheat. It is playing the game.

I knew a simple picture of the plate wouldn't be enough. I knew something better needed to be staged and it was so obvious that the quickest way to the Judge's heart would be through a common love: Star Wars.

We grabbed all of the Galactic Heroes we could find and looked to see who was there to create a scene around. There was Luke with Yoda on his back while he's training to become a Jedi. But that only involved using one figure. We had Jabba, Jedi Master Luke and Carbonite Han but no Princess Leia in the gold bikini (which I am actually okay with.) After calling in a Star Wars Ringer (aka my sister's boyfriend whose very knowledge and respect of all things Star Wars causes me to approve him as a good match for my sis) we decided to re-create the scene where Jabba is throwing Han, Luke and Lando to the sarlaac in the Pit of Carkoon. And the thing that decided it for us was the fact that we had cooked halved oranges with our turkey.

So, here was the setup....It involved lighting, a black backdrop, the tripod and camera. We wanted to submit only a picture of the best quality as well.

And here was our final result:(Notice R2D2 and C3PO upside down in the sand? That was Kristy's good memory on that one.)

So there you have it. And, like I said, sadly we never got a result but my family is thinking we just might have to make this a yearly event for us. We had so much fun working on our plate (using only food we had cooked or consumed for Thanksgiving dinner) that we think next Thanksgiving just might be boring without it! In fact, we couldn't take the plate apart till the evening of the next day. We left it out on the counter just looking at it when we walked by, so proud of our creation.